Book: Zombie MommyAuthor: M.T. Anderson
Published: 2011
Source: Local Library
What ho, chums! Lily Gefelty and her pals are back - in peril, that is. It seems Lily's mom came back from her vacation very different than how she left. It could have something to do with her going to Todberg, a town infested with the undead. Because where else are you going to go on vacation?
There's clearly nothing for it. Lily, Katie, Jasper, and Drgnan must journey to Todberg themselves to investigate. But this time around, they're saddled with Madigan Westlake-Duvet, Katie's snobby cousin from New York City. Still, they're not going to let her intimidating wardrobe and overwhelming nastiness stop them, because nobody's going to save Lily's mom if they don't.
There are some book series that I give up on because it's the same thing over and over again. There are some that I joyfully return to because it's the same thing over and over again. This is one of the latter. I can pretty much count on a Pals in Peril! book to be a kooky romp, with plentiful potshots taken at the tropes and cliches of kids' books past and present.
One of the clearest potshot targets in this one is the Gossip-Girl genre, in the form of Madigan. The jokes come fast and furious - she has an iSquawk, drops brand names like rain, and goes to Snott Academy. That last leads to a joke about snotballs that made me imagine Anderson giggling over his keyboard for days on end as he slowly set it up.
Smart and silly in equal measure, this was just what I needed for a fast and funny read.
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